Etelcalcetide Is Effective at All Levels of Severity of Secondary Hyperparathyroidism in Hemodialysis Patients.

Introduction: Calcimimetics improve parameters of secondary hyperparathyroidism (sHPT) but are mostly initiated when patients have severe disease, potentially limiting effectiveness. We evaluated the effects of etelcalcetide on lowering intact parathyroid hormone, calcium, and phosphate at different disease severity levels.

Methods: This analysis examined data from 2 parallel, phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled, 26-week trials conducted in 1023 adult (≥18 years old) patients with sHPT on maintenance hemodialysis.

Incidence, predictors and therapeutic consequences of hypocalcemia in patients treated with cinacalcet in the EVOLVE trial.

The calcimimetic cinacalcet is used to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients receiving dialysis, and asymptomatic hypocalcemia is often observed following its initiation. Here we investigated the incidence, predictors and therapeutic consequences of hypocalcemia by a post hoc analysis of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled EValuation Of Cinacalcet Hydrochloride Therapy to Lower CardioVascular Events (EVOLVE) trial. Hypocalcemia was classified as mild (total serum calcium 8.

Dose relationship between oral glucocorticoids and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and the risk of hospitalized infectious events among patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of oral glucocorticoid (GC) dose on rates of hospitalized infectious events (HIEs) among RA patients newly exposed to tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) therapy. This retrospective cohort study used data from the MarketScan claims database. Incident and prevalent adult RA patients newly exposed to TNFi therapy were identified and assigned to three cohorts: no GC, low-dose GC (≤7.

Long-term safety and efficacy of etanercept in children and adolescents with plaque psoriasis.

Background: There are no systemic therapies approved in the United States to treat pediatric psoriasis.

Objective: We sought to evaluate long-term safety and efficacy of etanercept in children and adolescents with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Methods: This 5-year, open-label extension study enrolled patients aged 4 to 17 years who had participated in a 48-week parent study.

Risk of Subsequent Infection Among Patients Receiving Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors and Other Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs.

Objective: To describe the incidence of subsequent serious infections in patients who received systemic drug therapy after an initial serious infection.

Methods: Patients with rheumatic conditions (rheumatoid arthritis [RA], psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis) or psoriasis who experienced a serious infection between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2011 were identified in a claims database. Patients were required to be continuously enrolled in the Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Research Database for 12 months prior to and at least 60 days after the date of discharge or the end of intravenous antibiotic therapy for the index serious infection.

Tumor necrosis factor, tumor necrosis factor inhibition, and cancer risk.

Objective: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a highly pleiotropic cytokine with multiple activities other than its originally discovered role of tumor necrosis in rodents. TNF is now understood to play a contextual role in driving either tumor elimination or promotion. Using both animal and human data, this review examines the role of TNF in cancer development and the effect of TNF and TNF inhibitors (TNFis) on malignancy risk.